AOL Pops Video Onto Home Page, with Partners Including WWE and HSN

April 15, 2014|Todd Spangler | Variety

AOL.com has launched a video module smack in the middle of the page, featuring original content from partners including WWE and HSN, as the web portal seeks to drive higher engagement (and more dollars) from its growing stockpile of vid clips.

Previously, AOL.com highlighted video in a "static, billboard-type way," said Maureen Sullivan, president of AOL.com and lifestyle brands. "This is a better way to promote premium video to our AOL audience. They expect to see video on the site."

The new video section on AOL.com -- which attracts about 8 million visitors daily -- is directly below the "dynamic lead," a carousel of 30-plus news and entertainment stories that anchors the home page. The video module will showcase eight videos at a time, updated throughout the day based on popularity.

Through a new pact with HSN, AOL.com will present exclusive daily discounts from the home-shopping cabler via video segments. WWE is providing three shows produced exclusively for AOL -WWE Inbox, WWE In 5 and WWE Top 5 -- geared around the wrestling franchise's personalities.

Existing AOL video partners that will get play on the home page include ESPN, Conde Nast Entertainment (with content from Vanity Fair, Vogue, Glamour and Self) and the Wall Street Journal. AOL-owned brands in the video mix will include Engadget, HuffPost Live, Makers, Moviefone and StyleList.

AOL hasn't sold sponsorships for the home-page video carousel, but that could be an opportunity down the road, Sullivan said. "Ultimately this gives us more inventory to work with video brands," she said.